Housing Policy to Give Strategic Direction to Sector

The Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing, has taken steps to formulate a National Housing Policy and Implementation Plan, to give strategic direction to the housing sector and to enable the Government to meet its vision/target of providing access to adequate and secure shelter for all Jamaicans by 2030.

“This policy and implementation plan are intended to address the perennial housing crisis, which has been evolving since the 1950s,”Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing, Hon. Dr. Morais Guy, said  during his contribution to the 2012/13 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives, on July 10.

The National Housing Policy and Implementation Plan is seeking to: promote a wide range of housing choices for all income levels; develop a framework to promote the sustainable use of resources in the housing sector; and foster partnerships with the private sector and other providers to increase the supply of additional housing solutions to meet projected demand.

Other objectives  include: implementing programmes to maintain the present housing stock and rehabilitate blighted areas, through promoting reinvestment in these areas and infill housing; rationalising the roles of the public sector agencies directly involved in the provision of housing; providing a framework to support the delivery of social housing, particularly for the vulnerable and disadvantaged; and streamlining the role of the housing finance sector to increase accessibility and reduce bureaucracy.

“Currently, the technical staff of the Ministry and its agencies, as well as the members of the newly constituted housing Boards are reviewing the proposals embodied to ensure their adequacy in addressing the very complex issues at hand, as well as to ensure that they dovetail into the policy framework of this administration,” Dr. Guy said.

He added that thereafter, the Technical Review Committee (TRC), which is comprised of various stakeholders within the housing sector, will work with the Ministry’s Technical staff to obtain approval of the proposals by the Cabinet.